University Undergraduate Programs Committee (UUPC)Minutes –February 27, 2017
Members present: Jerry Haky, SC; Mark Harvey, AL; Ethlyn Williams, BA; Bruce Arneklev, CDSI; Angela Rhone, ED; Dan Meeroff, EG; Jacqueline Fewkes, HC; Kristy Padrón; Library; Katherine Chadwell, NU; Edward Pratt, Undergraduate Studies; Donna Chamely-Wiik, Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry; Ken Dawson-Scully, University Honors Council; Jeff Galin, Writing Across Curriculum Committee; Brian Hodge, Maria Jennings, Elissa Rudolph, Registrar’s Office.
Guests: Ionut Cardei, Computer and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Kathryn Johnson, Theatre and Dance; Doug Kanter, History; Louis Merlin, Urban and Regional Planning; Debra Szabo, Provost’s Office.
Chair Jerry Haky called the meeting to order at 10am.
- Minutes and Announcements/Discussion
1.MINUTES: The minutes from the January 30, 2017, meeting were approved.
2.ANNOUNCEMENT: Chair Jerry Haky announced that 330 papers were presented at a recent weekend undergraduate research conference. He applauded the efforts of the University’s undergraduate research initiative.
- NEW BUSINESS – UNIVERSITY-WIDE
1.Writing Across Curriculum (WAC) Committee
Director Jeff Galin gave an update on this committee, which was established ten years ago. Since then the WAC Committee has reviewed hundreds of lower-division courses to recertify them as WAC courses and trained 500+ faculty members. The committee would like to direct more of its focus to upper-division courses and has created a writing-enriched curriculum that included one year of self-study and allows for two years of implementation. Next, the committee would like to increase its course review from one department a year to several departments per year. Dr. Galin stated that about one quarter of FAU departments want to be included in WAC instruction. To answer this need, Dr. Galin is looking to the UUPC for support and guidance in reconstituting the WAC Committee (the WAC Committee is a subcommittee of the UUPC). The number of members has dwindled since 2007 with only five currently active members from four or five of FAU’s colleges. The WAC Committee would benefit from a more robust representation from all of FAU’s colleges, which would also lend long-term sustainability to the group.
Chair Haky asked about the work of this committee. Dr. Galin replied that WAC reviews syllabi using an eleven-point list of criteria, including Gordon Rule characteristics. Aside from reviewing lower-division syllabi, Dr. Galin said that he hoped a larger, more representative committee could focus on evaluating upper-division courses ensuring that more of FAU’s course offerings are rigorous and challenging for students. While the current members of the committee are willing to continue, new members would provide new ideas and energy. Dr. Galin will submit names of potential new WAC Committee members and a revised description of the committee’s goals at an upcoming meeting of the UUPC.
Chair Haky called for the UUPC to approve the reconstitution of the WAC Committee and its revised focus; UUPC members agreed unanimously.
2.Declaring a Major
Undergraduate Studies Dean Edward Pratt discussed the change in the timeline for students to declare their major. This change states that “new freshmen and transfers without an A.A. degree must declare a major prior to admission or they will be required to take SLS 1301, Career and Life Planning, their first fall or spring semester as determined by their advisors.” Declaring a major early helps students find their direction and strengthens their motivation. Moving the SLS course requirement to begin in fall ensures undecided students get a jump on their major selection.Dean Pratt added there are more undecided students in the fall than in spring. These students could benefit from taking the SLS course earlier. After discussion, the UUPC agreed and approved the change suggested by Dean Pratt.
Requirement Revision / Deadline for declaring a major required course- NEW BUSINESS FROM THE COLLEGES
- College for Design and Social Inquiry
Dr. Louis Merlin described the College’s three new courses, one from Criminology and Criminal Justice and two from the School of Urban and Regional Planning. He explained that these courses have been taught as special topics for several semesters and are popular; therefore, applying for unique numbers for them is warranted. The three new courses were approved by the UUPC.
CCJ 4361 FormSyllabus / Death Penalty /
3
/ NewURP 4741 Form Syllabus / Housing Policy and Planning /
3
/ NewURP 4952 FormSyllabus / Planning Abroad /
3
/ New- College of Science
Chair Haky asked Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) Director Donna Chamely-Wiik to discuss the two new research-oriented courses presented by the College of Science. They are one-credit courses funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to encourage undergraduate students to shadow graduate students whose research is already underway. In answer to Chair Haky’s question concerning the ongoing funding for courses such as these, Dr. Chamely-Wiik said that, yes, the courses will continue to be offered. She said the Provost’s Office is committed to the future of these programs when the NSF grant runs out. Dean Pratt asked if the two new courses could be applied to other FAU programs. Yes, Dr. Chamely-Wiik said, and she added that professors in the individual colleges should be encouraged to learn about these types of courses and where they may fit in various curricula. NU Rep Kitty Chadwell asked about offering these courses for Nursing students. Dr. Chamely-Wiik replied they cannot be offered to Nursing students at the moment because the NSF grant is to be used for STEM programs only, but certainly after the grant runs out.The UUPC approved the two new research courses.
IDS 1911 FormSyllabus / Introduction to Undergraduate Research 1:Lower Division /
1
/ NewIDS 1913 Form
Syllabus / Introduction to Undergraduate Research 2:Lower Division /
1
/ New- College of Arts and Letters
Kathryn Johnson, Theater and Dance, presented a new course from her department. The course is intended to assist students in obtaining jobs as actors. It has been offered as a special topics before. After a short discussion, the UUPC approved the course.Then Ms. Johnson went on to explain the changes to the Minor in Theatre. The presented changes will eliminate courses that have prerequisites outside of the minor and lower-division electives thus, streamlining the program for students’ benefit. The changes to the Theatre Minor were approved by the UUPC.
The combined degree program in History was discussed next. It was discovered that the descriptive language on the proposal form did not match the language required for combined programs as mandated by FAU’s accrediting body. With assurance from Dr. Doug Kanter, History, that the descriptive language would be revised, the UUPC approved the combined program pending changes. Following the meeting, Dr. Kanter provided the corrected proposal that was then forwarded to the University Graduate Programs Committee for review at its next meeting.
TPP 4224 FormSyllabus / Audition and Career Forum / 3 / New
Program Change Memo
Program Changes / Minor in Theatre
New Combined Program Form
Program Curriculum / History B.A./M.A. / New
- Honors College
HC Rep Jacqueline Fewkes described five new courses offered by the Honors College. All received approval from the University Honors Council, chaired by Dr. Ken Dawson-Scully. Discussion arose about parallel courses on the Jupiter and Boca Raton campuses. The two PCB courses already exist in the College of Science; the Honors College versions will parallel those. There is no problem as long as the scheduling department knows there are two versions of the same course; this information is in Banner. The new CHM course does not have a parallel Boca course although the College of Science gave the impression that a similar CHM course would be submitted.
Chair Haky asked the question: When the Honors College is creating a new course, should it consult with the corresponding department/college on the Boca campus and vice versa? There doesn’t seem to be a clear mechanism for that to happen now. Several committee members viewed this as a communication issue, not as a new rule to be created. Chair Haky stated that communication between departments and colleges should always be encouraged.The UUPC approved the five new courses.
BSC 4082 FormSyllabus / Honors Principles of Human Neuroanatomy /
3
/ NewCHM 4294 Form
Syllabus / Honors Medicinal Chemistry /
3
/ NewIDS 3332 Form
Syllabus / Honors Law, Culture and Human Rights /
1-3
/ NewPCB 3703L Form
Syllabus / Honors Human Morphology & Function 1 Lab /
1
/ NewPCB 3704L Form
Syllabus
UHC Approval for five courses above / Honors Human Morphology & Function 2 Lab /
1
/ New- College of Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Ionut Cardei addressed the various items of business from his college. The catalog changesfor the Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering B.S. programs are needed to clarify the language, to reorder the table notes, and to keep consistency across the three majors. There were also changes to the Computer Science B.S. Minor: removing a course, adding another and updating the list of electives. The UUPC approved the catalog changes.
Credit changes to two courses were requested to keep them in line with ABET requirements. Other prerequisite changes help to funnel the most prepared students into certain courses. Two co-op courses are to be terminated replaced by a new internship course. These items were also approved by the UUPC.
The new internship course engendered discussion relating to the difference between co-op courses and internships. Registrar Brian Hodge asked about the definition of a co-op course as opposed to an internship – how are they different? He and the committee stressed the need to have a University definition created for both types of courses as they don’t appear to exist. EG Rep Dan Meeroff replied that this request is in line with a Community Engagement initiative to define these course types. A definition for internship is found in the State University System data dictionary, but not for co-op. General definitions were offered. With co-ops, the student is off campus not taking any other courses at the university that semester and this is typically paid. With internships, the student is interning while also taking other courses at the university. Internships can be paid or unpaid.
CDA 3331C FormSyllabus / Introduction to Microprocessor Systems /
4 (3)
/ Change credits, prereqs.EEL 3111 Form
Syllabus / Circuits 1 /
3
/ Change prereqs.EGN 4950C Form
Syllabus / Engineering Design 1 /
2(3)
/ Change credits, regis. control, prereqs.CGN 3949 Form / Civil Engineering Co-op /
1
/ TerminateSUR 4949 Form / Co-op
Educ. Geomatics Engineering /
1-4
/ TerminateEGN 3941 Form
Syllabus / Engineering Professional Internship /
0-4
/ NewProgram Change Memo
Program Changes / Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering
6.College of Education
ED Rep Angela Rhone presented a new two-credit course from her college. After a short discussion,the course was approved by the UUPC.
EDF 3203 FormSyllabus / Equity Issues in Multicultural Education /
2
/ New7.Library
Kristy Padrón presented her report on the Library’s current and future projects. State Representative Lori Berman made an appropriations project request for the 2017-18 fiscal year that requests $3,900,000 for engineering and architectural design plans for a new library, with an additional request to come for a new library. President Kelly was listed as a requestor. For March, the library scheduled workshops on the following topics: the literature review, using government documents, and fake news.In addition, the library will have an exhibit, “Colonial America,” that highlights rare books and publications from the Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection.The exhibit will be open weekdays from 10:00 to 2:00 p.m. until the middle of April. A library use study of STEM students has been underway for the past couple of months, and most of the needed data have been collected; results will be shared with the College of Science and College of Engineering & Computer Science.
There were no business items from the College of Business or the College of Nursing.
IV.NEXT MEETING/ADJOURNMENT
UUPC meetings for academic year 2016-2017 take place on Mondays from 10 am to noon on the following dates as approved by the Committee last spring:
Dates for AY 16-17 (Mondays):
SPRING: April 3, May 1 (exam day)
Chair Hakyannounced that anyone with program changes from January’s meeting should go to the UFS meeting that afternoon to discuss them in case questions arise. Then he adjourned the meeting at 11:33 am.
UUPC Minutes Feb 27 17 1